In an article published yesterday, daily newspaper Morgunblaðið asked a number of lawyers if Iceland’s Minister of the Interior Ögmundur Jónasson broke the law when he ordered the state prosecutor and the police to stop working with the FBI agents who came to Iceland.

WikiLeaks spokesperson Kristinn Hrafnsson told RÚV last week that Ögmundur had not received notification of the visit beforehand.

Kristinn said that Ögmundur had reacted angrily to their arrival and rejected their request for assistance in investigating a case in the country on the basis that foreign police forces do not have the authority to do so. Ögmundur confirmed that he was not aware of the visit.
 
The agents reportedly visited Iceland to investigate WikiLeaks and an imminent cyber-attack on the computers of the Icelandic government offices.

According to the conclusions of the lawyers interviewed, the state prosecutor is independent and the government does not have the right to request the state prosecutor to open or close a case.

The 19th article of the law of the handling of criminal proceedings states that the minister is to supervise the prosecution’s operations and can demand that the state prosecutor submit evidence and reports on the handling of single cases.

Ögmundur is currently in China on an official visit.

Click here to read more about the controversy over the FBI’s visit to Iceland.

PS